Child of the DEAD
by moviefan-92
Summary: Post-anime. During their night together at the shrine when the scene faded to black, something happened between Takashi and Saeko. Now, several weeks later, Saeko realizes that she's pregnant with Takashi's child, and contemplates how to break the news to the others. How will Takashi react to the news, and what will happened with him and Rei? COMPLETE
1. Part 1

**(A/N: Alright, here we go. _Highschoool of the DEAD_ is one of my favorite anime, and I've been wanting to do a story on it for a long time. Unfortunately, I've never been able to come up with anything. That is, until this. I wanted to do a full-length story, but I'm pretty satisfied with this. It was going to be a single long one-shot, but after I finished it and saw it's length, I decided to split it into 4 parts. It takes place after the anime, obviously, and while it does somewhat take the manga into consideration, you won't need to have read it, as this story takes the plot into a different direction. You can pretty much place the timeframe at any point after the anime. One last thing, I tried to keep this _'T'_ rated, but if anyone thinks I should raise it to _'M'_ , please let me know. Enjoy)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **" CHILD OF THE _DEAD_ "**

Saeko Busujima wiped her mouth as her stomach finished emptying its contents. This was nothing new though; it had been happening for several days now, usually in the mornings. She wondered how much longer it would last, and hoped it would be over with soon.

She glanced at the others, and saw that they were still sleeping. That was good; they all needed their sleep. So far, she had managed to keep her condition hidden from them, but not for much longer. She was planning on waiting until she had proof before breaking the news to them. And for news this big, she needed proof.

Not for herself. She knew exactly what was wrong. The proof would be for certain members of her group in order for them to accept it. Not that she thought that they wouldn't believe her, but having the proof would make it easier and undeniable, and it couldn't be written off as something else until the signs began to show.

Saeko wasn't stupid enough to think that this was some kind of stomach bug, or food poisoning, or whatever excuse other women would tell themselves in order to deny the truth, or were too naïve to realize it. She was pregnant. She knew it for a certainty. And it wasn't women's intuition or anything like that. She simply knew what signs to look for, not to mention she had begun to suspect it the first time she'd experienced her morning sickness.

After the first morning of vomiting, the possibility of pregnancy had occurred to her almost right away. Despite doing the deed only one time, that was all it took. And so she had applied what she knew of pregnancy and thought back to that night at the shrine, counting the days that had gone by until now, then recalling how soon after conception morning sickness usually occurred. The days added up.

Next, and most importantly, had been her period. She knew when her monthly cycle was. And while stressful situations could cause irregularities, Saeko was fully capable of telling when she was late and when she had flat out missed it, and she had missed it.

Then there were other things to consider, such as cravings, irritability, weariness, and raging hormones. Yes, there were many signs, and Saeko had been keeping a look out for them ever since she had first begun to suspect that she was with child, even looking back to her behavior before the morning sickness. All the signs pointed to what she already suspected. Now all that was left was for her to do was pee on a stick and get that little red plus sign for confirmation.

After rinsing out her mouth, she walked back over to her friends and sat next to the one who put her in this condition. Takashi Komuro. She didn't blame him though; they were both at fault. As the saying went, 'it took two to tango'. She did wonder how he would feel about it though. While he did say he would take responsibility, she knew that he had meant for her. Somehow, she didn't think he'd had _this_ in mind when he made that promise; she certainly didn't. Not that she thought that he wouldn't live up to his responsibilities; Takashi was possibly the most responsible person she knew.

Her mind went back to that night at the shrine. The two of them had gotten separated from their group, only managing to make plans to meet up with them at the Takagi Estate before they'd been forced to flee. It had been too dangerous at the time with all the walking dead wandering around.

After she had frozen in her slaughter of the dead when they came across a group of zombie children, something Takashi had had no trouble taking care of, the two of them had taken up refuge in a shrine for the night, the owner having either fled or perished. While they were there, Takashi had inquired as to why she had froze.

She had then told him of her more sadistic side. Of how she had been attacked by a prowler when she was younger, but had fought back, nearly killing her assailant with her savage assault. She had admitted to how she had been unable to stop beating him, how she had taken such pleasure in the act, and how cutting down these walking corpses gave her the same excited rush that bordered on sexual for her, and how that side of herself scared and ashamed her.

Takashi had rose to her defense, claiming how ever since the dead rose, that such actions were now required of them, and that he too had begun taking delight in putting down the rotting corpses, getting his own sick thrill out of it. Saeko had already been aware of that. She had seen the grins that crossed his face when he smashed their skulls with his bat, she had noted the excitement and delightful gleam in his eyes as he riddled them with bullets. But that side of him, she had pointed out, had only manifested after the world had collapsed, but that she had been that way ever before it happened.

He had dismissed her concerns, claiming how it didn't matter if they had this side to them before or after the dead began walking, because this was what they needed in order to survive now. It was simply the way the world was now, and they had to accept it.

She still wasn't entirely sure how it had happened. They had been sitting in front of each other, looking into each other's eyes, his hand on top of her, the warm light from the fireplace shining on them. Suddenly he had leaned in, and she had moved to meet him as they shared a heated kiss. Things had progressed from there, and the two of them had ended up making love right there on the shrine floor.

It had been her first time, and she greatly suspected that it had been Takashi's as well. Neither had planned on it happening, but it did, and Saeko wouldn't change anything about it. Not even the result of their union growing inside her. Though she would admit that she would have preferred for it to happen a little further down the line.

Looking down at the sleeping Takashi, she reached out and stroked his spiky brown hair, noting how it felt much softer than it looked. He mumbled in his sleep and shifted slightly, but did not wake. Saeko smiled to herself as she continued running her fingers through his hair. She'd had a crush on him before this whole zombie apocalypse started, but had never acted on it, thinking there was something wrong with her ever since she discovered her darker side, and that she didn't deserve to be happy with someone else.

She had been afraid to show anyone that side of her, hence the reason why she had frozen upon encountering the zombie children. Taking delight in killing the adult walking corpses was one thing, but she had been afraid of what Takashi would think of her if he saw her enjoying the slashing of zombie children. It was in that moment that's she realized, much to her horror, that she was no different than she was back when she had nearly beaten her would-be molester to death. No, she was even worse now, getting drunk off the power and violence she unleashed. It wasn't that she was a cruel or wicked person, but there was no denying the thrill she got when unleashing her violent side, and it left her disgusted with herself and filled with self-hatred.

However, Takashi had dispelled those worries as well. Not just by killing the undead children himself, but by what happened the next morning. Upon exiting the shrine, before she had even finished getting dressed, they had been surrounded by a group of at least a dozen bloodthirsty corpses. She had almost froze again, afraid and ashamed to let her violent side out, despite having confessed it to Takashi the previous night. She even briefly considered giving up and letting the dead claim her. But Takashi had once again dispelled those worries, even claiming she was the greatest girl he knew. He not only accepted her darkness, but encouraged it, insisting that he needed her, and her darkness, saying that he would embrace it, asking her to live for him if she needed a reason to live.

She'd stopped fighting it after that, letting out the monster that lived inside her whenever she needed to, reveling in the carnage she left in her wake. It was then that she knew that she was completely in love with him, and had asked that he take responsibility for her. He had grinned and agreed whole-heartedly.

A shiver ran through Saeko as she remembered that night. Of the passion they'd shared, of the feeling of his hands on her, his lips against hers, their sweaty naked bodies entwined. She reached up and touched her lips, imagining him kissing her, remembering the feeling of his touch. Her other hand came up to touch her breast, the same one he had grabbed when he encouraged her to let out her darkness, and she held back the moan that threatened to escape her.

A blush stained her cheeks and her breathing became labored as sweat began to bead on her skin as she got lost in her memories. She ran her hands down her body, imagining they were his as she indulged in her fantasy. She wanted him, she want to feel him touch her, feel him inside her, rediscovering the passion and heat they had shared that night. Ever since leaving the Takagi Estate, they'd been so busy trying to find a safe place to stay that they hadn't had the opportunity to be alone for longer than a few minutes. There had been that brief period of time on what they had thought was an uninhabited island, but the hallucinations they'd had from the fumes of the Hydrangea leaves they had unknowingly used in their campfire made it difficult to remember how much had been reality and how much had been fantasy. She had meant what she said though, she wanted to be his one and only.

A movement brought Saeko out of her thoughts, and she glanced at the sleeping figure beside Takashi. Bringing her hands down to rest in her lap, she frowned slightly at what she considered to be the greatest obstacle between her and Takashi. Rei Miyamoto, Takashi's childhood friend and sweetheart. There was a very… complicated history between the two of them that had only grown more complex overtime, especially during the zombie apocalypse.

Saeko was fully aware that there were still at least some lingering feelings between the two of them, and she understood. Despite the growing relationship between her and Takashi, she knew that he still cared for Rei a lot, and likely still had romantic feelings and attraction towards her.

Rei, likewise, was rather possessive of him because of their past relationship, especially after having lost her boyfriend, Hisashi Igou, during the outbreak at their school, and she often acted like she had some type of claim to him because of their past relationship. But to Saeko, it seemed as if Rei was trying to hold onto something, something that was no longer there, or was but a shadow of what it once was. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism to deal with the horrors of the new world. Perhaps she was hanging onto the feelings she had for the person Takashi once was in order to hold onto something familiar and comforting. Or maybe she just afraid of being alone, and was desperately clinging onto the only other person around who had truly cared about her.

Whatever it was, Saeko didn't know. One thing was certain though, whatever it was between Takashi and his former sweetheart, she wasn't going to let it interfere with her and Takashi's relationship. Despite there being more women than men in their little group, Saeko was not willing to lose Takashi, and she most definitely was not willing to share him with another woman.

For too long had she thought herself unworthy of love thanks to her dark side, but that was no longer the case. Not only was her sadistic side necessary for their survival in this new world, but it was fully and completely accepted by Takashi, who now had his own darkness that might even rival hers to an extent. But Saeko accepted that side to him, just as he accepted hers. She never felt this way about someone before, not even her past crush, and she was not willing to lose it, or him. She'd even go as far as to say he was her reason for living. He was what made all this pain bearable. Without him, she would very likely commit jigai.

Sighing, she laid down next to him. Placing her hands on her stomach and the life growing inside, she couldn't resist the smile that crept up her face as she looked out the barricaded window. The sun was already up, and they would be waking up soon, and be on the move once more. Their nights had consisted of finding whatever shelter they could, sleeping in abandoned vehicles and houses as they searched for a safe place to settle down for as long as they could. Tonight they were sleeping in a bus that had been turned on its side, the entrances having been barricaded so the dead couldn't get to them while they slept. Tomorrow, they would reach town, where they would restock on food, water, medicine, and other supplies. Saeko planned on picking up her own bit of supplies; some things to prevent future 'accidents' from happening, and something to prove that one had already happened.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

It looked like they weren't the first ones to ransack this particular drugstore, but there was still plenty of supplies left behind for them to gather; looters could only carry so much after all.

They had gathered the essentials, food, preferably nonperishables, bottled water, medical supplies, toiletries, and other essential items. Standing behind the counter, the air-headed school nurse, Shizuka Marikawa, was in charge of gathering any medications that they may need in case any of them got sick, hurt, or developed an infection. She stared almost absentmindedly at the shelves full of whatever medications hadn't been ransacked by looters.

Twirling her finger around as she read the labels, she hummed happily to herself with a content smile on her face. "Should I get Asprin, Tylenol, Excedrin, Aleve, or Ibuprofen? They all have relatively the same affects. Anyone have a preference?"

Not even bothering to glance at the ditzy nurse, Saya Takagi continued to grab items off the aisle shelves and shove them into the already stuffed arms of Kohta Hirano, whom she had elected to be her personal pack mule. "Just get the important stuff. You're a nurse, you should know what we might need."

"Ok!" Shizuka declared cheerfully. She went back to humming as she snatched a few boxes and bottles. She tapped her chin curiously after coming to one in particular. "Would you consider Ipecac important?"

Saya rolled her eyes. "I doubt we'll need to induce vomiting. When I said important stuff, I meant things like medicine in case one of us gets sick, antibiotics in case of infections, stuff like that."

"Ok!" She went back to looking at the shelves, before stopping give the bespectacled girl a questioning smile. "Do you think we'll need inhalers?"

A vein throbbed in Saya's head, and she let out an impatient sigh. "None of us have asthma, Miss Shizuka."

"Oh, right, we don't. Ok then… What about hemorrhoid cream?"

"Ah! Seriously? How did you get to be a nurse in the first place? Just take the important stuff!"

Struggling to hold onto everything in his arms, Kohta glanced at the pink-haired girl he had been crushing on for some time now. "Hey, speaking of the important stuff, are all these things really necessary? Some of them seem more like luxury items or conveniences. Like soap, shampoo, and deodorant. We can live without those. Even toothpaste isn't necessary for survival."

Whirling around, Saya fixed him with an annoyed glare as she pushed her glasses further up her nose. "Of course it's all necessary. I don't want to smell your nasty boy sweat all the time."

Looking dejected, Kohta diverted his eyes and pouted. "Girls sweat too, you know," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

He jumped and stood at attention. "N-Nothing. It's just… we can only carry so much. Shouldn't we only take what we really need to survive?"

Saya poked him in his large gut. "Listen up, tubby, personal hygiene is important for good health, which is important for survival. Therefore, it is necessary." She cockily pushed her glasses higher up her nose again. "So just shut up and do as I tell you. I am a genius after all, I know what I'm talking about."

A short distance away, Rei smirked at her friends' antics, and went back to searching the shelves. Since they were in a simply drugstore, there wasn't much in the way of food. She did find a few things such as canned foods and granola bars, and she tossed them into her bag.

"Miss Rei! Miss Rei!" the youngest member of their group, little Alice Maresato, ran up to her with their dog, Zeke, barking happily behind her. Beaming proudly, the young girl held up a box of dog biscuits. "Look what I found for Zeke! We can take them, can't we?"

Rei smiled at the girl they had all but adopted after her father had been killed by a group of cowardly individuals who chose to murder a helpless father rather than letting him and his daughter into their house. "Sure we can. Can you hold onto them for us?"

Alice nodded enthusiastically, and hugged the box to herself. "Yeah!" Zeke continued to bark excitedly around her feet, and she opened up the box to take out biscuit, holding it over the dog's head. "Here, boy."

Saya ignored the scene as she continued to load up Kohta's arms with anything she considered necessary for their survival, whether he agreed with it or not. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a door leading to another room, and wandered what was behind it. "Hey, someone go check in the back. There may be some more supplies we can take."

"I'll go," Saeko replied, and headed for the door. She'd already found all the personal items she needed anyway.

The plastic bag she held in one hand contained two specific items. The first was a box containing a certain test she already knew she was going to pass. The second was another box with a number of pills so there wouldn't be anymore 'accidents' in the future. True, she wouldn't need them for a several more months, but it was always good to be prepared. Besides, she had the feeling that Saya didn't find Kohta quite as intolerable as she let on.

Reaching out, she grasped the doorknob and attempted to open the door, only to find it locked. She quickly remedied that with a kick, knocking it open. She was immediately greeted by a pungent odor, followed by a vicious snarl. Four walking corpses came stumbling out, their arms reaching for her. Saeko reacted instantly. Dropping her bag, she grasped the hilt of her specially made, all but indestructible sword, and unsheathed it. She stabbed into the first one, the blade going straight through the corpse's back. But Saeko knew that it wouldn't be enough to kill it.

Truthfully, 'kill it' wasn't the correct phrase since these things weren't actually alive, despite the imitation of life they displayed. They had no life, no soul, they were just mindless walking pieces of meat. A tree, a bacteria, a virus had more life than they did. They were just flesh that kept moving after death, similar to how the leg or antenna of an insect or the tail of a lizard continued to twitch after being severed from the body.

And speaking of severing, Saeko twisted her blade and sliced upward, cutting through the zombie's chest, coming out the top of its head. The zombie had practically been cut in half, but that hadn't been what put it down. Destroying the brain had been the key, putting a stop to all its other motor functions, and the creature fell unmoving to the ground.

Wasting no time, Saeko swiped her sword through the air, cutting through another zombie, separating its arms and upper body from its lower half, sending a shower of blood flying everywhere. At that point, Takashi had rushed over to her, and was currently leaping through the air, his metal bat raised over his head. He brought it down on the skull of another zombie, and its head all but exploded from the impact as it was smashed in.

He swung his bat at the fourth zombie, hitting it in the face. Its lower jaw was completely torn away, and it stumbled back into the wall, not even registering the pain with its dead nerves no longer functioning. A moment later, a gunshot rang out, and the zombie's brains shot out of the back of its head, leaving a large blood splatter all over the wall. Kohta stood holding his smoking rifle, having dropped the load Saya had filled his arms with. The light reflected off his glasses, giving him an almost sinister look as a large grin spread across his face as he stared proudly at his handiwork.

"And Mom said all those first person shooter games would never get me anywhere in life," he bragged arrogantly.

Saya humphed. "Nice job." She pointed to everything he dropped. "Now pick that up."

Takashi couldn't help but smile at the dejected look on Kohta's face before he turned to Saeko. "You ok?"

She flashed him a smile as the armless, lower bodiless zombie at her feet attempted to crawl. "I had it under control," she told him as she casually held out her sword and stabbed it through the back of the head, the blade exiting its mouth and piercing the floor. "But I appreciate the help."

Takashi returned the smile with one of his own, and Saeko felt a rush run through her, already having gotten worked up from the slaying of the two corpses she had put down. Seeing him take down those things got her just as excited as doing it herself. And based on the look in his eyes, he was feeling the same way. She wanted to respond to that desire and pounce on him right then and there, but other priorities took precipice.

"I'll go first," he told her. "Just in case there's any more."

"My hero," she teased, pulling her sword free.

As Takashi walked past her, she gave her sword a quick flick, ridding it of the blood, before sheathing it. She was very grateful of Saya's father for giving it to her; it was a lot more affective than the wooden kendo sword she had been using, and far superior to an ordinary sword.

Reaching down, she picked up her bag, and her eyes went to the four rotting corpses. Though she normally tried not to think about who the dead were back when they were alive, she couldn't help but notice that the four of them were wearing store aprons. If she had to wager a guess, she'd assume that when the initial outbreak occurred, one of them had gotten bitten, and then the four of them had then locked themselves in the back room for protection, not realizing that once bitten, the victim would turn. And when their fellow employee had risen from the dead, they had attacked the others.

It really was just like the movies. The craving for the flesh of the living, spreading the infection through bite, and needing to kill the brain to put them down for good. The biting, dying, and rising process all happened very quickly though; within a matter of minutes of being bitten, the infection would rapidly spread through the body like a fast acting poison, killing the victim before they were reanimated as one of _Them_.

Yes, that's what they referred to the walking corpses as, _Them_. Though they all knew what they really were, they didn't like to use the term 'zombie'. They did occasionally, but mostly they simply said _Them_. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism, some form of denial in order to deal with the reality of the situation they were in. They all needed a way to cope, and if by referring to the flesh-eating monsters as _Them_ helped, then that was just fine.

They still didn't know how the whole thing started, and likely never would. Takashi had seen the initial attack at their school that had introduced them to the horrors of this new world, but what had happened before then was a mystery. They still weren't even sure what this was anyway. What made the dead stand up and walk? It wasn't everyone who died, only those who were killed by _Them_ or infected by a bite. So it wasn't something they were already carrying that activated upon death.

But what was it? A pathogen of some kind, maybe a virus, bacteria, or a parasite, or some other new disease? Was it a result of radiation? A mutation? Perhaps some type of biological weapon or chemical spill, maybe a government experiment gone wrong? Hell, maybe it was aliens, or divine intervention. Perhaps it was a curse, or some evil spell, or maybe voodoo. Had it affected a bunch of people all at once, or was there a patient zero? There was really no telling.

Most importantly though, would this ever come to an end? So far, it looked like the answer was no, not any time soon. Possibly not for hundreds, or even thousands of years. Despite being rotten, it seemed that the zombies weren't affected by decomposition after a certain point, likely because they were still animate. The fact that they were still bleeding the way they were when there blood should have coagulated ages ago like a normal corpse supported this. Which meant, potentially, they could be walking around indefinitely. Meaning that humanity's only hope of vanquishing the dead was to kill them all one by one all across the globe until every last one was wiped out. And since there were tens of millions, if not billions, of _Them_ all over the world, there was no telling how long that cleanup would take. Centuries most likely, and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that the zombies kept adding to their numbers with the more people they killed. Just a single one getting into a populated area could result in hundreds or thousands more of _Them_. Just look at how a single one had turned at least a quarter of their high school into an entire army of undead monsters.

They were most dangerous in large numbers. A single zombie, even a handful, weren't all that tough to deal with, or even avoid completely. Though very strong, they were slow, stupid, and their senses were dead. They couldn't seem to see, and seemed to rely entirely on sound to seek out their prey. However, once they picked up a sound, they were somehow able to pinpoint and lock onto it. Perhaps it worked kind of like sonar, and a single sound was all it took to lock onto their prey, their hearing amplified beyond superhuman levels since none of their other senses worked. It made sense, and also went in accordance with their great strength, presumably able to apply all their energy to a single muscle since none of their other body functions were in use.

So even though a single zombie was easily manageable, it was still extremely dangerous. And with their insatiable need to feed on the living, craving a taste of the life they no longer had, they relentlessly and tirelessly pursued their prey. Unthinking, unfeeling, undead, and always, always hungry. Just one could cause an entire community of survivors to fall, just like the Takago Estate being a prime had, although that had been due to an entire horde attacking.

And perhaps just as dangerous as the dead, or maybe even more so, were the living. Some people weren't cut out to living in a world like this. Scratch that, most people weren't. They would snap and became savages. Takashi had told them of the thug at the gas station he and Rei had left for dead after he had attacked them. And then there were the self-righteous idiots that had also been at the Takagi Estate. Not to mention the delusional sociopath that had been Koichi Shido. The sick bastard and his group of followers had gotten what they deserved after the EMP from the nuclear blast had caused their bus to crash in the middle of a horde of _Them_. If anyone deserved to be eaten alive by a bunch of flesh-eating ghouls, it was that group. Whether they survived or not, Saeko didn't know, but she wouldn't shed a tear for the sociopath and his followers.

Yes, it was a dangerous world, far more dangerous than the previous one. But they were learning, adapting, adjusting to their circumstances as they went along. Case and point, they had learned that they were better off as a small group rather than getting absorbed into a community. It was just them against the world.

Hopefully, they would find their families alive and well, and then after that, they would seek out a safe haven for themselves to live out their lives, maybe on an actual deserted island this time. It would also probably be a good idea to stop at a library and take a few books on wilderness survival, or maybe some of those books on how to survive a zombie apocalypse, something that up until a while ago had been labeled as fictional. And a few books on parenting would come in handy soon too.

Saeko's hand went to her stomach. She wasn't showing yet, but it would only be a matter of time. Tonight she would take the test and get confirmation for what she already knew. But while she'd had the time to come to terms with her pregnancy, she did wonder how the others would react. Shocked, she was sure, but what else? Alice and Shizuka would probably be delighted. Kohta would most likely say something stupid, and Saya would likely smack him for it before she began irritably lecturing Takashi about how irresponsible he was.

As for Takashi himself, well, Saeko wasn't entirely sure how he would react. She knew that he would take responsibility though. Not just because of what he told her the morning after their night together, but because that was just the type of person he was.

The real issue would be Rei. Saeko knew that she would be devastated and angry. She would probably feel betrayed, even though she wouldn't have any right to feel so; she and Takashi had no commitments to each other, and Saeko had never been shy about how she felt about him. Rei may have been hesitant with her feelings, and Saeko would even go so far as to say she was somewhat fickle and manipulative after the way she had strung both Takashi and Hisashi along for her own self worth, whether she meant to be or not, or even noticed. However, Saeko was not shy about what she wanted, and she was not going to cast the person she loved aside for her own convenience and ego the way Rei had.

Yes, tonight was going to be very interesting indeed.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)


	2. Part 2

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

There it was, the little red plus sign. This was the third test she'd taken, and the result was the same each time. There was no doubt about it; she was pregnant.

An indescribable feeling fell over Saeko. She'd known what the results of the test was going to be all along, but still, to hold the proof in her hands was something different. There was no denying the truth, and now, all that was left was to make the truth known.

Raising her eyes to the mirror in front of her, she breathed in and out to calm herself. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous about telling the others, but Saeko Busujima didn't let fear control her. So, taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked out of the bathroom.

Walking through the house, she headed for the dining area where the others were finishing up dinner. They had taken up residence in this house earlier today after raiding the drugstore. The owners were either dead or had fled, hoping to find a safe place elsewhere. Saeko and the others had opted to stay here for now. Only a few days tops before they headed out again in search of their families, unless a horde came by and drove them out sooner. She wondered how long it would be before they found a place they could actually settle down permanently. Hopefully they would be able to before her pregnancy became too much of a burden.

Coming to a stop beside the table the others were sitting at, Saeko took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "There's something I have to talk to you all about."

Everyone looked at her, including Zeke, who had been sitting on Alice's lap as she scratched behind his ears. Saya studied the purple-haired swordswoman, noting the serious and somewhat nervous expression on her face, and she pushed her glasses further up her nose. "Oh, great. Something tells me that you're about to give us some troubling news."

Saeko considered this for a moment before shrugging. "Well, I wouldn't say troubling exactly. Complicated would be better word for it."

She fiddled with the pregnancy test behind her back as she tried to find the right words to break the ice. Her gaze settled on Alice, who was looking at her curiously, and Saeko smiled at her. "Hey, Alice, how would you feel about being a big sister?"

The little girl blinked for a moment before a wide smile spread across her face. "That would be great! I always wanted a little brother or sister!"

Saya's eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you getting at…?" It suddenly clicked, and her eyes widened. "Oh God, tell me you don't mean what I think you mean."

Saeko sighed and brought out the test. "I'm pregnant. This is the third test I've taken, so there's no mistaking it."

There was a stunned silence at the table as everyone stared. Saeko's immediate attention shifted to Takashi. He was staring at her just as shocked as everyone else. But unlike them, a series of emotions flew across his face, seemingly too fast for him to even register them. Saeko would have found his reaction cute if the news she were delivering hadn't been so serious.

The silence was soon broken when Shizuka began clapping happily. This seemed to break the shock that had overcome the others, and Saya pinched the bridge of her nose in aggravation. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Congratulations!" Shizuka told the swordswoman cheerfully, the seriousnesss of the situation seeming not to register to her. "We'll have to schedule a baby shower."

Kohta's mouth was still hanging open. "Wait, pregnant? But how can you be pregnant?"

Shizuka turned to him cheerfully, but also completely serious as she said, "Well, Kohta, when two people love each other very, very much-"

The boy's face turned beet red as he interrupted her. "I know how it happens! I meant how did it happen in the middle of, well, all this?"

Rei's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to know that myself."

She cast a suspicious look at Takashi, who still seemed to be going through an avalanche of emotions as he stared at Saeko.

Alice looked at each of them as she her young mind tried to process what was going on. "Wait, so then does that mean that Big Sister Saeko is going to… have a baby?"

Saya groaned and leaned back in her seat to look at the ceiling as her mind already began going through everything this would mean for their group. "That's usually what happens, yes?"

The little girl's eyes shined brightly as she beamed with happiness. "Yay! That's great! I'll be the best big sister ever!" She cocked her head to the side. "So if you're the mommy, then who's the daddy? Is it Big Brother Takashi?"

It seemed that in her innocence, she didn't fully realize the implications of what she was suggesting as all eyes turned to their elected leader. Takashi seemed to finally come out of his stupor as he realized that everyone was looking at him.

"I…" he muttered, unable to find his voice. "I… I… I…"

Saeko couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked, yet a blush filled her cheeks as she said, "Well, I was a virgin until that night at the shrine."

Now it was Takashi's turn to turn red in embarrassment. Rei was turning red as well, but for a completely different reason, her eyes burning with anger. Saya still looked aggravated, and Kohta's mouth was hanging open in disbelief while Shizuka happily swayed side to side in her seat giddily. Alice was now looking confused though as she turned her questioning eyes to the self-proclaimed smartest member of their group. "Hey, Big Sister Saya, what's a virgin?"

"Something you'll remain for the rest of your life if I have anything to say about it," the pink-haired girl grumbled.

She fixed Takashi with a glared as if this were all his fault. Based in the way they'd acted, spoken to, and touched each other after the night he and Saeko had gotten separated from their group, Saya had had her suspicions that something may have happened between the two of them. And while she had long since given up on her own feelings for him, this wasn't exactly easy for her to hear.

"You perverted horn-dog," she scolded. "You just couldn't keep it in your pants, could you? Even with all this going on. Just like a man."

"Hey!" Kohta objected in defense of his gender. "Takashi's not the only one at fault. It takes more than one person for something like this to happen, you know."

"I'm perfectly aware of that!" Saya snapped, turning her glare on him. "But I would have thought that he would have been smart enough, that they _both_ would have been smart enough, to at least wait for a more opportune time to start popping out babies!"

Shizuka tapped her chin curiously. "Then when would be the best time during a zombie apocalypse, Miss Takagi?"

A blush darkened Saya's cheeks. "I-I don't know!" she cried in outrage. "But not while we're on the run! At the very least they should have waited until when we found a safe place to stay."

Rei was barely listening. She was trembling in her seat from the onslaught of emotions that were filling her, and she blinked angry tears out of her eyes. "How…" she began, trying to keep her voice steady, "how do we know this didn't happen before the outbreak? Just because she says she was a virgin up until now doesn't mean it's true. She could be lying."

"She's not lying," Takashi said quietly, yet loud enough for them to hear. He may not have had any experience before that night at the shrine either, but he knew what happened when a woman lost her virginity.

Rei rounded on him. "How can you say that!? Do you realize what… this means?"

Takashi was silent for a moment before he spoke in a completely serious tone. "Of course I do, I'm not stupid."

A look of hurt flashed across Rei's face, and she fell silent. No one said anything for several long moments before Saya finally spoke up. "Well, you know, this doesn't _have_ to happen."

The others looked at her in either surprise or confusion. Saya diverted her eyes from them, well aware of the terrible thing she had just suggested, but refusing to take back her words.

"What do you mean?" Kohta asked uncertainly.

She sighed remorsefully as she pushed up her glasses. "Look, I really hate to be _that_ person, but we have to consider all our options. Alice is one thing, but having a baby around is going to make things a lot more difficult. If it cries at the wrong time, it could attract a whole bunch of _Them_. And then there's also taking care of it, getting it essentials like diapers and other things. Not to mention that in the coming months Saeko won't be in any condition to fight as her pregnancy progresses."

She took in the looks the others were giving her and sighed again. "Don't think that I'm some heartless monster. I don't like it any more than you do, but we have to be realistic about this. A baby is really going to complicate things; it already did back when things were normal. I'm not saying that having kids is completely off the table, humanity does need a future after all, I'm just saying that it should be put on hold until we're more settled."

No one said anything. Alice looked at each of the teens in confusion, not understanding what they were talking about.

"She may be right," Rei finally said quietly. When everyone looked at her, she shifted uncomfortably in her seat and cast her eyes downward, genuinely sad about what she was saying, despite how she felt. "This could put us all in danger. Maybe waiting would be the best option."

Saeko's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth to tell Rei to shove her opinion up her ass, but Takashi spoke up first. "I think only Saeko and I have the right to decide that."

There was an edge of warning in his voice and a dark look in his eyes, almost as if he were making a threat. The others were surprised by his behavior, though Saeko found herself smiling. The only others that didn't seemed affected by Takashi's words were Alice, who still didn't understand what they were talking about, and Shizuka, who seemed to be lost in her own world. She did, however, seem to be aware of what was going on as she casually stated, "I don't think there are any abortion clinics open anyway."

The comment from the ditzy blonde nurse seemed to break the tension. Saya sighed deeply and gave both Takashi and Saeko a sorrowful but serious look. "Listen, neither Rei nor I are trying to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. Just that you should weigh all the options and really think about it seriously."

"I think there's more than enough death going on in the world," Takashi replied darkly. He glanced at Saeko to see her opinion, and she nodded in agreement. He offered her a small smile before turning back to Saya. "I get what you're saying, but what you suggested isn't even an option worth considering."

Saya studied him for several long moments before she sighed in resignation to the fact that their lives were going to become a lot more difficult in the incoming months. "Fine, but if you're going to go through with this, then we'll have to come up with solutions to problems we'll face in the future. The baby crying at the wrong time will be the most problematic since it can draw _Them_ to us." She crossed her arms in thought. "I remember reading somewhere that some native tribes would train their babies not to cry by pinching their nose closed when they did so their screams wouldn't alert nearby enemies and predators, and eventually the babies learned not to cry over time."

Kohta gave her an admiring look. "Wow, Takagi, how do you know that?"

She rolled her eyes at him, especially since she had just specifically stated that she had read it in a book. "Because I'm a genius, you stupid otaku." She began thinking about the baby situation again. "We'll also have to stock up on baby supplies when we search for food and other things. Getting the right nutritional foods may be a little more difficult, but I'm sure we can manage. Uch, I really wish you two had waited before letting this happen."

Shizuka clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is so exciting. I learned how to deliver a baby in medical school, but I never got to actually try it before."

"I'm excited too!" Alice exclaimed. She picked up Zeke and gave him a big smile. "I'm going to be a big sister, Zeke! I can't wait!"

Saeko smiled at the girl, and placed her hands on her still flat stomach, something she seemed to be doing a lot lately. "I'm afraid it'll be a few months before that happens."

"One more thing though," Saya said sternly to the parents-to-be. "It's too late to do anything about it now since you're already knocked up, so I don't care what the two of you do together, but once the baby comes, you need to promise to be more careful when you're screwing around until we find a safe place to stay for an extended period of time. We can't have you two contribute to repopulating the world while we're still wondering around just because you guys can't keep your hands off each other."

There was a loud _bang_ as Rei slammed her palms on the table and rose to her feet. Without another word, she stormed out of the dining room. Saeko watched her leave with a small frown. She glanced at Takashi and saw that he had a tired look on his face. She couldn't blame him; this was a lot to take in.

Saya, however, was unsympathetic for the soon-to-be father and the love triangle he had gotten involved in. "You better go talk to her before she does something stupid and gets herself killed."

Takashi winced at her harsh tone. "But I…"

He glanced at Saeko. It seemed that after she had dropped this bomb on him that it should be her that he was having a talk with.

"No buts," Saya told him, having picked up the look he had given the purple-haired swordswoman. "You and Saeko will have plenty of time to talk things out. Rei's an emotional wreck right now because of you, so you need to go fix it. If anything bad happens to her, it'll be your fault."

Once again, Takashi glanced at Saeko, as if asking for her permission. Deciding that Saya was probably right, she gave him a smile and a nod. A deep sigh escaped him as he rose and went after Rei, hoping there wouldn't be too much drama.

Kohta stared at him enviously. "How is it that there are only two of us and he's the one who gets all the girls? It's like I'm watching someone eat themselves to death while I starve."

Saya glared at him. "Of course a fat ass like you would make that analogy."

Alice looked back and forth between the two in confusion. "Hey, what's going on? Why's Big Sister Rei angry?"

Smiling, Shizuka patted the little girl on the head. "Aww, you'll understand when you're older."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

It had seemed that Saya was right. Upon following Rei into the bedroom she had claimed as her own when they settled in the house, Takashi found her getting her rifle ready. She had other weapons spread out as well, which suggested that she was probably planning on going out to vent her frustrations by killing any of _Them_ she found in the area.

Takashi resisted the urge to sigh as he stared at her back. "What are you doing?"

Rei's expression darkened, and she refused to even turn around to face him as she loaded her rifle. "What the hell do you care?"

He glared at her from behind. "I care because it looks like you're about to prove Saya right by doing something stupid like going out on your own at this time of night to find some of _Them_."

"Wow, look at you. You know me so well." She stood up, slinging her rifle over her shoulder as she added in a dark whisper, "But apparently not as well as you know Saeko."

Eyes narrowing, Takashi stormed over to her and grasped her arm. "Stop it, Rei! You're acting-"

"Don't touch me!" she snapped.

Pulling her arm free, she turned around and slapped him across the face. Takashi's head snapped to the side from the impact, and he took a step back. His hand went to his cheek, his eyes wide in surprise. Rei glared at him furiously as he turned back to her, and then his own eyes narrowed in anger.

"What the hell was that for?" he demanded, rubbing at the red handprint appearing on his cheek.

"For being a cheating bastard!"

He lowered his hand from his stinging flesh as he returned her glare. "A cheating bastard? How do you figure that? That would imply that you and I are boyfriend and girlfriend, or at least dating. As far as I remember, neither of those is the case."

Rei seethed, but couldn't deny that he was right. "If you recall, I told you that I loved you."

Takasho scowled. "Yeah, only after I became convenient for you. What was it you said before you told me you loved me? That I wasn't the kind of dependable person girls liked before, or that if I was you didn't see me as that type of person. But then suddenly you needed me in your life and couldn't survive without me. Is it just because Hisashi is gone so I'm the only other option? Damn it, Rei, all you've ever done was give me mixed signals and compare me to him."

Hurt and anger flashed in her eyes. "How dare you bring up Hisashi!"

"I dare because it seem to keep coming back to that. Hisashi this, Hisashi that. Even when he was still alive, it's like you kept rubbing him in my face, as if showing him off to me to let me know what you think a proper boyfriend should be like. Like you wanted me to be more like him. Girls like guys who are sweet and nice to them, you said. Just like how you kept pointing out Hisashi was. Well, newsflash, Rei, I'm not Hisashi. I never have been, and I never will be. And maybe that's why I'm still alive and he's dead!"

Rei's eyes widened in shock at his final words, and tears began to shine in them as they threatened to spill down her cheeks. "You… You bastard… How dare you… How dare you say that about Hisashi!"

Takashi diverted his eyes as guilt for what he said about his deceased best friend coiled in his gut. "Well, it's true. You always made it clear that Hisashi was so much better than me, that he was a much better person. And maybe he was. That's why you left me for him, isn't it? Because I wasn't interesting enough and was far too indecisive. But I'm the one who's still here, not him."

"That…" Rei began as she tried to find the right words to counter his argument. "That was then, and this is now. I know you've changed. I told you I needed you, that I couldn't live without you."

This time, he wasn't moved by her words as he fixed her with a glare. "So I wasn't good enough for you then, but I am now? Am I only good enough when it's convenient for you?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"You as good as said it." He took a step closer to her as he fixed her with a hard look. "Lets get something straight, Rei, you're the one who walked out on me and went running to Hisashi. I wasn't good enough for you then and so you left. Even after Hisashi died, there was nothing between the two of us when Saeko and I…" He trailed off as he noted the hurt look on Rei's face. Taking a deep breath, he tried to control his temper. "You have no right to be angry with me. Or Saeko."

Rei was silent. It looked like she wanted to argue further, but wasn't able to come up with anything else to say. The anger slowly began to drain out of her to be replaced by a deep sadness.

"You're right," she reluctantly admitted, her voice threatening to crack as she lowered her eyes. "I was the one who pushed you away. I've been selfish, thinking only of myself, and I hurt you so much. I guess I've got no one else to blame but myself." A humorless chuckle escaped her. "I knew you and Saeko were getting closer. I could tell you were developing feelings for each other, especially after that night the two of you were away. But, in a way, I guess I always thought of you as mine." She looked back up at him, almost desperately. "So, you and Saeko, do you really…?"

She couldn't say the words, but she didn't have to. And this time it was Takashi who diverted his eyes as he thought about his growing feelings for the purple-haired swordswoman. He'd been attracted to her from the beginning, despite the feelings he still had for Rei, but it had been that night at the shrine when she completely opened up to him that that attraction had started to become something more.

Their relationship had changed after that, and not simply because they'd had sex. His feelings for her had only grown since then, and were still growing. And she had made it very clear how she felt about him. That had become especially apparent after that night on the island, from what he could differentiate between reality and hallucination.

"It's…" he said quietly as he tried to find the right words to convey to Rei how he truly felt about Saeko, "definitely getting there."

It was like a knife to the chest. Rei had wanted so much to hear him deny it, but deep down, she had known. She had seen it coming, building up between them. She'd tried to write it off as nothing more than attraction, not wanting to believe it was something more, even when it had been right in font of her the whole time.

Lowering her eyes to the ground, she struggled to find your voice. "Then you and I… we're really done for good, aren't we?"

Takashi's shoulders sank slightly as he suddenly felt very tired and emotionally drained. "Yeah…" he said quietly, diverting his eyes.

Somehow, Rei managed to keep her face neutral, even as tears threatened to spill from her eyes, and she looked away so he wouldn't see them. "I see… Well, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less."

A sigh escaped Takashi as he looked back at her. "A lot of things have changed. Including us. No one saw any of this happening. None of us are the same as we were before."

"Yeah," Rei muttered regretfully. "I guess not." She looked back up at him. "But, Takashi, have you really thought this through? With the baby I mean. I'll admit that I don't like it, but what I said down there had nothing to do with my feelings. Do you really think this is the best decision?"

Takashi's eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched as he resisted the urge to slap her. "Maybe you would feel differently if it was your kid." This time, he felt no guilt when she flinched at his words. "I stand by what I said, the only ones who have a say in things are me and Saeko." He gave her a serious look. "Anyone who has a problem with that is free to walk away."

Rei took a step back, hurt. Her pain quickly gave way to anger though as she glared at him. "Well, I hope you two are very happy together." Without another word she marched past him, her rifle sling over her shoulder.

"Leave the gun," Takashi told her, not even turning around.

Rei paused at the door. She stood there silently for a moment before letting the rifle fall from her shoulder. Then she walked out of the door, slamming it behind her.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)


	3. Part 3

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Saeko stood at the bottom of the steps as she let Takashi and Rei say whatever they had to. A part of her felt a stab of jealousy at leaving the two of them alone in a room together, but she knew that they needed to clear up their relationship once and for all.

A small frown crossed Saeko's face as she considered the possibility that Takashi might choose Rey instead of her. There was a great deal of history between the two of them, along with feelings that had carried on over the years, and were still in the air. Despite her relationship with Takashi and how much they were getting closer, a connection like the one he and Rei had didn't just disappear over night.

This was why love triangles were so painful and complicated, even more so when one of the members had feelings for both of the other two. And while it seemed that Rei had home field advantage, Saeko felt that what she herself and Takashi had was deeper and greater, or at least it would be some day. Rei herself had even admitted back at the Takagi Estate that Takashi would be happier talking with her.

That was thanks in part to this crazy new world they lived in. Back when things were more… civilized, then yes, Saeko could admit that maybe Rei would be more suitable for Takashi. In fact, she and Takashi may have continued to remain relatively unknown to each other, just like they had been at school, with her silently crushing on him from afar while he only knew of her.

But then again, if civilization had never fallen, then Rei would likely still be Hisashi, while Takashi continued to brood over her. Still, it likely wouldn't have changed anything between her and Takashi, because she still would have remained caged by her inner darkness, afraid to let anyone know about it or get close to her, and feel that she was undeserving of another's love.

But now, with the world the way it was, many things had changed. Takashi had changed, adapting to the new world, and becoming much more like her, developing his own darkness, one that was now essential to survive in this world. And the two of them, they just seemed to click. The more they lived in this world, the more Takashi was becoming like her. What more, he even enjoyed the lawlessness of this new world, even crossing lines that Saeko wouldn't, such as when he had killed the zombie children without an ounce of hesitation while she had hesitated. And he didn't seem to hate that side of himself the way she used to.

There were still feelings and things left unsaid between him and Rei, true, and Saeko could accept that. However, Rei no longer had the hold over him that she did before, and Takashi's attention and feelings had begun to shift to someone more compatible to the person he was now.

Not for the first time, Saeko wondered about that. When the world fell apart, a lot of people seemed to break, such as the knife wielding maniac that had attack Takashi and Rei. Others adapted to become survivors, taking a darker persona. That is what happened to Takashi, and even Kohta, maybe even more so with him. She remembered the way he had threatened that pervert Shido with his nail-gun back on the bus, saying how he had always been holding back from lashing out at the man's harassment of him, but no longer had to.

Maybe that was the case for everyone, or a majority of people. Perhaps, like her, they all had an inner darkness, a wild beast held deep within, caged by society, having no place in the civilized world. But once civilization was striped away and society crumbled, that darkness came out. If that were the case, then perhaps she wasn't such a singularity after all. Perhaps she had simply discovered this truth before the dead began to walk while everyone else was forced to accept it afterwards in order to survive.

Saeko sighed and shook her head. None of that mattered anymore. Survival was what was important. How they were before versus how they were after didn't matter. This was the way things were, and they just had to accept and deal with it.

The slamming of a door drew her attention, and Saeko glanced up the stairs. A few seconds later, Rei was coming down the steps with tears in her eyes, her face a mixture of sadness and anger. As she passed Saeko, she threw her a furious glare before making her way to another part of the house.

Saeko frowned, feeling sorry for the girl. She knew she must feel like her heart had been ripped out. But then again, she was largely at fault with the way she had juggled around Takashi and Hisashi. Had she and Takashi been together, then Saeko would not only have ignored her desires that night at the shrine, but she was also sure that Takashi wouldn't have made a move on her either; the guy was incredibly loyal.

Speaking of Takashi, Saeko figured he must be hurting as well after whatever conversation he'd had with Rei. She didn't now what had been said between the former childhood sweethearts, but it couldn't have been pretty. Should she give him some time, or should she go talk to him?

Deciding that some company would be good for him, she made her way upstairs. There was only one door that was closed, the one that Rei had claimed as her room while they were here. She made her way over and knocked softly, waiting her permission to enter.

Several long seconds of silence passed before she mentally shrugged and opened the door anyway. She spotted Takashi standing by the window, his head pressed against the glass and his eyes closed. From the looks of it, he didn't even appear to have heard her knock. He seemed to be deep in thought. It made sense since she had given him a lot to think about. He was going to be a father. That was a lot to take in, and wasn't something that could be so easily dismissed.

"Takashi," she said softly.

His eyes snapped open in surprise and a gasp escaped him. "Saeko!" he exclaimed, whirling around. "You scared me."

She smiled lightly. "I see that. It looks like I interrupted a deep thought,"

He sighed. "Well, you gave me a lot to think about," he replied, echoing her thoughts.

They fell silent, both looking anywhere but at each other as a feeling of awkwardness settled over them. Saeko felt her gaze drawn almost reluctantly towards the door as she thought about her love rival.

"How are things between you and Rei?" she asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.

"Don't worry about her," Takashi replied, waving off her concern. "I'll take care of things." He fell silent again for a few moments, studying her carefully. His eyes went down to her stomach, as if expecting to seen signs of her pregnancy, before going back to her face. "How long have you known?"

She frowned slightly, diverting her eyes from him. "A few weeks now."

"And you're only telling me now?"

She returned her gaze to him. "There hasn't really been a good time to bring it up. Besides, I wanted to take a test to be absolutely sure before I mentioned anything."

Looking sorry, Takashi rubbed the back of his head. "So you've had this hanging over your head for a while now, and you didn't say anything. Shit, Saeko, you should have told me. I could have helped you out."

A smile grazed her lips; that was just like him. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"But you shouldn't have to," he told her firmly. "I'm supposed to help you out."

She chuckled at his caring display. But the smile soon left her face, and she looked away as she asked seriously, "So, does that mean that you… want to be involved?"

He gave her an incredulous look of disbelief. "How can you even ask that? That's my kid you're carrying. Of course I plan to be involved, just like any father should."

She was glad to hear that she wanted him to be involved. But she had to ask. "What about Rei?"

He almost looked annoyed at her words. "I told you not to worry about her. She's not involved in this. The only thing that matters is you, me, and the baby."

Saeko's hand found its way to her stomach, not because of the baby, but due to the happiness that bubbled up inside it. There was, however, a sliver of doubt, and she frowned a bit as she stared at Takashi. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Takashi, but…" she hesitated for a moment before giving him a serious look, "but I don't want you to be with me just because of the baby, or because you feel like you need to. That hadn't been my intention in telling you. If we're going to be together, then I want it to be because you want it, not because you feel obligated. That wouldn't be fair to anyone."

She wasn't sure how he would respond to that, but she certainly didn't expect the chuckle she heard escape him. He was smirking at her now, a look of amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Well, we can agree on that," he told her. "Relationships that are forced for one reason or another don't usually work out. And that was back when things were civil. I'd take responsibility for the baby, of course, but I wouldn't be with you if I didn't want you."

He reached out and stroked her cheek. Sighing, she leaned into his touch as his fingers caressed her face. Moving up to her purple hair, he grabbed a lock and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to it. She looked into his eyes, and saw them burning with lust. It made her want grab hold of him and relive that night at the shrine with him all over again.

"And trust me," he told her hotly, "I _really_ want you."

Saeko felt a shiver run through her, and her inner stomach muscles clenched in anticipated delight. He was making it very hard not to simply pounce on him with the way he was looking at her. She'd known that she'd managed to find a place in his heart, but to hear him say it, especially like _that_ , it made her very thirsty, and not for something to drink.

Her excitement soon dissipated though. Something bothering her though, and she once again glanced at the door. There was something she needed confirmation on if they were going to enter into an actual relationship. "And what about Rei?"

The smile left Takashi's face, and he dropped the lock of her hair he was holding. "I told you-"

"I know what you said," she interrupted, not letting him dodge the question this time, "but I need more than that. She loves you, Takashi, and I know that no matter what you feel for me, a part of you loves her too." She held up her hand to silence him when he opened his mouth to respond. "It's ok, you don't need to defend yourself. But I don't share, Takashi. If we're going to be together, then it's all or nothing. Can you set aside your feelings for her and look only at me?"

They stared at each other for several long moments. It looked as if Takashi was trying to find the right words to say to her, and she waited patiently for him to come to terms with his feelings. If he found that he couldn't let Rei go, well, then she would just have to do whatever she could to make him forget about her, because Saeko Busujima was not one to give up.

Finally, a sigh escaped him, and he diverted his eyes. "You're right," he told her, sounding almost frustrated by his admittance. "A part of me does still love Rei, and maybe always will; they say you never truly get over your first love after all."

She nodded in understanding. "It's the first time you experience such an emotion. It makes sense that you'll always remember it."

He gave a small grunt in agreement at her reasoning before he looked back at her. "But when it comes to Rei, I think a big part of it is me hanging onto the past. I think that's why I had such a hard time accepting her and Hisashi's relationship. I thought she was my future, and when she left, I saw that future crumble. I was angry and didn't want to accept it, so I kept dwelling on it, and on her. I couldn't move on, and I don't think that was good for me, nor for her."

He reached out a hand and gently took hers. "But a lot had changed since then. I've changed. My feelings have too. With you, I think I can finally get over her. And thinking back on it now, I don't know if I could have truly been happy with her after everything that's happened. Besides," a humorless chuckle escaped him, "it's probably not healthy to cling to the past like that."

"No," she agreed with a smile, "it most definitely is not."

He smiled back at her. "Besides, we'll have plenty of other things to worry about once the baby arrives."

At those words, she looked into his eyes, her own shining hopefully. "Then you're happy about this?"

Takashi's eyebrows rose. He looked thoughtful for a few moments before he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, to be honest, I hadn't really given thought about having kids. We are kind of young after all. I didn't think I'd be a father for several more years, and that was before the world fell apart. Now that it's happened though, it's a lot to take him. I guess I'm with Saya on this one; I don't regret it, but I wish it had happened at a more convenient time." He then locked his gaze with hers, looking completely sincere. "But you can bet on this, I'll do everything I can to take care of you and the baby, and I'll do my damned best to be a good father to our child."

At his words, a smile broke out on Saeko's face. Truth be told, she kind of felt the same way he did. Before the dead started walking, she had never thought of having a future with anyone, let alone children; hadn't even thought herself worthy of such a future. Now that it happened though, she couldn't bring herself to regret it, but she too wished it had happened at a more opportune time.

Seeing the pleased smile on Saeko's face, Takashi felt his own grin spread across his face. However, his smile vanished, and his eyes widened as he suddenly realized something. Saeko frowned at the uneasy look in his face and slightly cocked her head to the side questioningly. "What is it?"

He released her hand and rubbed the back of his head, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Shit. How are we going to explain this to our parents when we find them? 'Hi, Mom, hi, Dad. This is Saeko, she's carrying my child'. That's going to be awkward as hell. And your father is probably going to kill me."

A chuckle escaped Saeko, and she reached out, grasping his hand in hers as he had done to her earlier. "He won't kill you. I won't let him. It's because of you that I'm able to go on, despite being surrounded by all this pain and death. You're pretty much my only reason to keep living. Well," her other hand touched her stomach, "you and one other reason. Without the two of you, I might as well just die."

Takashi suddenly grasped the wrist of the hand that was holding his tightly, almost painfully so. Saeko looked at him in surprise to find him glaring at her furiously, a serious expression on her face. "I don't ever want to here you say that again. Whether I'm alive or not, your life is worth living. If I do end up dying, I don't want it hanging over me that you'll be joining me soon. Do you understand me?"

She stared at him in surprise, but soon broke out into a smile. "Don't worry, I won't die. I now have something else to live for." She gave his arm a playful punch. "But still, don't you die on me either. We need you too much." Her hands went to her stomach. "Especially now."

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I fully intend for us all to get through this. Somehow, we'll carve a life out of this whole crazy thing for us and live the best we can for as long as we can. And I intend for them to be full lives. Not just for us, but for our children too."

"Children?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his terminology. "As in more than one?"

His eyes widened in surprise as he realized what he said, and he covered his mouth as a blush stained his cheeks. "I… didn't mean it that way. We're not the only ones who might have kids. But who knows what might happen." He lowered his hand, willing away his embarrassment. "Besides, Saya did say that we would have to wait to have more. Not that we would have more, just that if down the line we… I mean… Wait, what was I saying?"

Saeko giggled at his rambling. It seemed he didn't even know what he was getting at, but it appeared that he would be open to the idea of having more children in the future; they did need to help repopulate the planet after all.

His discomfort was cute, and it was tempting to tease him some more, but she decided to let him off easy. "Why don't we just wait and see what happens. We'll see how we do with one before we think of having more."

He looked relieved by her words. "That sounds fair."

"However," she said teasingly as she begun looking him up and down, eyeing him hungrily, "that doesn't mean we still can't have fun."

His eyebrows rose at her words, and an equally hungry look also appeared in her eyes. There was a small bit of concern though as he briefly glanced at her stomach. "Is it ok for the baby?"

Saeko smiled, warmed by the fact that he was already so protective. "The baby will be fine. We'll still be able to… indulge for some time yet. Also," she lowered her voice to a near whisper, "I stocked up a bit on precautions for the future." She chuckled at the look on his face. "I'm already pregnant now though, so damage done." She reached out, sliding her hands over his chest. "But that just means that we don't need to worry about any accidents right now."

The hungry look in his eyes intensified. It was similar to the one he got when he was bashing the brains out of _Them_ , the same one she got when cutting them down as well, and the same one, she knew, was currently shining in her own violet gaze. And not for the first time, she wondered if perhaps both she and Takashi may actually prefer the world to be the way it was now before she pushed the thought aside as she licked her lips in anticipation.

Takashi's gaze lowered to her lips as she wet them before returning to her eyes. "You're playing with fire," he told her, a smirk spreading across his face.

She shrugged. "What can I say? It seems that I'm one of those women who gets horny a lot when she's pregnant. Although," she gave him a saucy grin, "it could just be you." She moved her hands under his shirt, feeling his hard muscles over his chest and abdomen, and smiled in appreciation. "Either way, there hasn't really been an opportunity for us to indulge, so I'm _really_ horny."

A low growl escaped him, and he grabbed her and pulled her close, causing her to gasp as her breasts were crushed against his chest. His lips met hers, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth as he kissed her hard. Saeko's eyes widened in surprise before they drifted shut as she kissed him back. It wasn't soft and tender, but rough and aggressive, and damn did she love it. Her arms came up to wrap around his neck, pulling him closer as she pressed herself as close to him as possible.

What felt like an eternity later, Takashi pulled back when the need for air forced him to break the kiss, and he stared at her hungrily. "You think you've been horny? How the hell do you think I've felt? It's like you and the other girls keep deliberately teasing me and Kohta."

She smirked mischievously. "I wasn't trying to catch Kohta's attention, but I was after yours. Glad to know I was successful."

"Successful is an understatement. That kimono you wore at Saya's house, do you have any idea how sexy you looked in it? And those bathing suits you girls wore on the island." He groaned as he thought back to how they looked in their swimwear.

Saeko snickered as she thought back to how he looked in his own swimwear. "You should talk. That speedo you wore practically drove me insane. It was so tempting not to take my sword and cut it of you." She gave him a teasing smile, her eyes shining. "And you know, I'm still curious to know what you were dreaming about when me and the others found you. I did hear you mention my name a few times."

Her bringing that up seemed to cause something to snap inside Takashi. Grabbing her none too gently, he slammed her against the wall. Saeko grunted at the impact, but smirked at him, having triggered the response in him she was seeking. She wanted to see him lose control, to use her body roughly, to give her a taste of his inner darkness, just as he'd grabbed her that morning after that night at the shrine when he said he'd accept her darkness.

"Keep talking like that, and I'll take you right here up against the wall," he warned her with a lust-filled grin.

She smiled wickedly at him as she hooked her index fingers into the top of his pants and pulled him against her. "I'm hoping for it."

He growled throatily and grabbed her wrists, and pinned her arms beside her head as he kissed her again, even more aggressively this time. She kissed him back with equal fervor, groaning against his mouth as he assaulted her lips. She tried to reach for him, but he kept her arms pinned to the wall as he continued his attack on her lips.

Smirking against his mouth, she raised a leg, running it up his side. He growled in response and pressed his knee between her legs, causing her to moan into his mouth as he rubbed it against her aching center. One of his hands released her arm and went down to cup her breast through her shirt. She pulled away from his mouth and gasped loudly, and he began kissing down her neck to suck at a sensitive spot. Her now free hand went to the back of his head, pressing him harder against her as she bit her bottom lip in pleasure at the sensations he was sending through her body.

"You really _do_ enjoy making me wet, don't you?" she teased.

Takashi's control threatened to snap as he recalled her saying the same thing to him that time he drove their getaway vehicle into a fountain. Only this time there was no double meaning to her words, and it was very clear as to what kind of 'wet' she was referring to.

Moving away from her neck, he looked into her hooded, lust-filled eyes. "Saeko, unless you want me to tear your clothes to shreds, you better get them off right now."

A shiver of anticipation ran through her at his promise, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as she gave him a saucy grin. "I was going to say the same thing to you, only I was going to use my sword to slice off yours." Her smile widened at his heated look, and she moved her lips right next to his ear so she could whisper into it. "Because right now, I want a different kind of sword in my sheath."

That seemed to be all he could take. Grabbing her bottom, he lifted her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. He carried her away from the wall, and they fell on the bed together with him on top of her. Saeko relished in the feeling of having his weight on top of her again as he began making good on his threat of tearing her clothes off his body.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)


	4. Part 4

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Saeko woke sometime during the night as her full bladder stirred her from her sleep. It was nearly pitch black out, the nights having become much darker since the EMP from the nuclear blast had knocked out almost all the power. There was no way to tell what time it was, but she assumed it was late.

Glancing up, she looked into the sleeping face of Takashi. After several intense rounds of love making, they had curled up together and fallen asleep. She was currently laying half on top of him, her head resting on his upper arm, one leg thrown over his, and her hand resting over his heart. He in turn had an arm wrapped around her, holding her close as he slept. A smile spread across Saeko's face as she nuzzled him, breathing in his scent.

Her bladder protested again, and she shifted carefully so as not to wake him; they'd become very light sleepers since the dead began walking. The arm he had wrapped around her tightened at the movement, and she couldn't help but to smile at the fact that even in his sleep, he still wanted her close. She was very tempted to snuggle back into his warmth and let sleep take her once again.

But nature called, a result of not having used the bathroom before going to sleep, and so she gently removed his arm from around her and slid out of bed. Tiptoeing over to the wall, she took down the robe hanging there and draped it over her shoulders. Both their clothes lay randomly thrown across the room. Despite Takashi's threat, he had been able to reframe from literally ripping off her clothes; they didn't have too many to spare after all.

Her body warmed as she thought back to their lovemaking. It had been even better than that night at the shrine, and their had been no pain or discomfort this time since she hadn't been a virgin anymore. She knew that with time and practice, it would only get better between them, and she couldn't wait for it to happen.

But right now, her body demanded a different kind of release, and so she crept to the door with one last look of longing at her sleeping lover. Maybe when she got back, she would wake him for another round; she was sure he wouldn't object.

Being as quiet as possible, she opened the door and stepped out into the hall. She was surprised, however, when the door hit something solid that emitted an "Oww!"

Tensing in anticipation for anything, she glanced behind the door to see who was there. She relaxed when she saw that it was Rei sitting against the wall. The auburn-haired girl glared up at her, and, thanks to the moonlight spilling into the hall from the large window, Saeko could see the dazed look in her eyes and the redness in her cheeks. She frowned slightly as her gaze drifted lower to find an empty bottle on the floor beside her. It seemed as if Rei had found the liquor cabinet and had tried to drink away her sorrows.

"Watch where you're going," Rei snapped irritably. "People are trying to sleep here."

Saeko's frown deepened as she carefully closed the door and stared at her former love rival. "Awfully strange place to sleep."

Rei snorted. "Yeah, well, you and Takashi hijacked my room."

The purple-haired swordswoman's eyebrows shot up as she glanced at the door she had just exited and realized that they had indeed taken over Rei's room without meaning to. A blush stained her cheeks in embarrassment as she tried to maintain her composure.

"I guess we did," she admitted. "Sorry. I guess you can take my room or Takashi's."

Rei snorted again. "As if I would want your room. And Takashi's sharing with Kohta."

That was true, Saeko thought. Due to the limited number of bedrooms, Takashi and Kohta were sharing a room, as were Saya and Alice, the latter two having taken what was presumably the parents' room while the former two had been forced to take the single guest room. Shizuka had opted to sleep in the living room, claiming the whole couch for herself. Saeko's room had seemed to be the room of a teenage boy based on the room's design, and Rei's had seemed to be that of a daughter of similar age.

A 'harrumph' escaped Rei as she continued to glare at Saeko. "Or I guess I should say Takashi _was_ sharing with Kohta since he's now obviously sharing with you." She gave another drunken 'harrumph'. "First you steal my boyfriend, then you steal my room. What do you want next? My gun?"

Saeko frowned at the accusation. She was no boyfriend thief since Takashi and Rei had not been boyfriend and girlfriend for some time now, and she said as much. "You had no claim to him. Takashi wasn't your boyfriend, and you know it."

"Close enough," Rei grumbled drunkenly. "We were heading there until you got in the way."

Saeko didn't approve of the accusation, but she had anticipated on a fight from Rei. "Then he was still single and fair game, so you have nothing to complain about. Especially since it's your fault that things between him and you turned out the way they did. Excuse me."

She gave a polite bow and made her way to the bathroom, not even bothering to wait for a response. She was glad the plumbing at least still worked as she relieved herself and cleaned up a bit. It was a little hard to get around with only the light of the moon for illumination, but she managed. It was strange though. You always heard about how you should appreciate what you have and not take things for granted, but it truly wasn't until you had those things taken away from you that you realized just how good modern conveniences were.

She sighed at her reflection in the mirror, taking note of her disheveled appearance from her and Takashi's activities, unable to stop herself from smiling. It didn't matter how things were before, this was their life now, and they had to make do with the things they still had.

Exiting the bathroom, she began to make her way back to the room Takashi slept in. From out of her peripheral vision, she saw something flying at her in the dark, but, thanks to her quick reflexes, she was able to avoid it. The empty vodka bottle shattered against the wall, and Saeko raised her arm to shield her face frown the shards of glass that sprayed against her, luckily leaving her unharmed.

Lowering her arm, she frowned at Rei, who stood a distance away, breathing heavily and looking furious. Saeko met her glare with an impassive look. After their brief exchange earlier, she had figured that something like this would happen. Better to get it over with now.

"You whore!" Rei seethed. "You're a cheater!"

Saeko raised an eyebrow at the accusation. "Care to elaborate?"

Rei pointed an accusing finger at her. "You were after Takashi since the beginning. This whole getting pregnant thing was your plan all along so you could steal him from me. That's cheating. You're a cheater!"

Saeko stared back at her with a blank expression. She understood that Rei was angry and hurt, not to mention drunk, and she was thus lashing out without thinking about what she said, grasping at any argument she could make. Saeko tried not to hold it against her as she faced down the auburn-haired girl's wrath.

"I assure you," she said as calmly as she could, "this was not planned out in the slightest. In fact, I agree with Saya, it would have been better to have put off having children until we had a indefinite safe haven. Unfortunately, that's not the way things worked out."

"You're still a slut!" Rei practically shouted drunkenly, seemingly not caring that she might wake up the others. "You seduced him that night you two were away so you could steal him away from me, didn't you?"

"Please keep your voice down," Saeko told her, raising her own voice a bit, "otherwise you'll wake up the whole house." She lowered her voice once more. "To answer your question though, no, it had not been my intention to seduce him that night." She kept quiet about the fact that she had tried to seduce him later that night on the island though, before they had gotten a little mixed up due to the hallucinations. "In fact, if you want to know the truth, he was the one who made a move on me."

Rei winced as if she had been struck. "You're lying! Liar!"

"But it's true. He kissed me." Though she had moved forward to meet him when he'd leaned in. "You can ask him yourself if you don't believe me."

A growl escaped Rei, and she seemed to be struggling to find something to say in her drunken state. "You're still a whore who stole Takashi from me."

Saeko raised an eyebrow. She'd expected Rei to make such an accusation, and she had a retort ready. "Oh? From what I recall, you'd been dating Hisashi ever since you left Takashi since he was 'too indecisive and uninteresting', I believe your reasoning was according to Saya. Of course, I suppose you and Takashi _could_ have gotten together after he died. That was certainly fast."

She felt bad about using Rei's dead boyfriend against her, but she was trying to make a point. Rei certainly didn't appreciate the implication though as she viciously snarled at the swordswoman. "Don't belittle my feelings for Hisashi!"

Saeko gave a small shrug. "All I'm saying is that if you and Takashi were together, none of us were aware that you two hooked up between Hisashi's death and now. Of course, there was that first night when the two of you were separated from us, which is why I said that it was fast since Hisashi had just died that day." She gave Rei a hard look. "Did something happen between you two the night we got separated? Something that would suggest that the two of you got together?"

Rei's fists clenched as she felt as if she were boxed into a corner. "No…"

Saeko stared into the other woman's eyes. "Really? Because something _did_ happen with him and me."

Rei winced again, and her eyes darted down to Saeko's stomach where Takashi and the swordswoman's child grew. "You still shouldn't have taken him from me. He was meant to be mine. We would have gotten together eventually if you hadn't gotten in the way. I always loved Takashi, even when I was with Hisashi."

The look in Saeko's eyes became filled with contempt. Narrowing her eyes, she closed the distance between them until she stood before the auburn-haired girl. "And yet you cast him aside for you own selfishness. What more, you strung him along and held your relationship with Hisashi over his head. And if you did still love Takashi when you were with Hisashi, then you did them both a disservice since you weren't sincere. You hurt and used them both due to your selfishness. Neither of them are a coat you can just hang up and take down to wear at your convenience."

Ignoring the cornered look on Rei's face, she leaned in closer. "You have no right to be upset over what Takashi and I have, or what we did. Neither of us did anything wrong. There was nothing between the two of you when Takashi and I slept together. The only one at fault for your failed relationship is you. If you truly loved Takashi, you should have worked through your problems instead of casting him aside and hurting those around you just so you could feel better about yourself." Her eyes narrowed as she gave her a serious look. "I will not make that mistake."

The fight seemed to seep out of Rei, and she slid against the wall down to the floor. "How did this happen?" she asked quietly, seemingly to herself. "We were supposed to be together. We even made a pinky promise when we were kids to get married when we were older."

Saeko looked down at her unsympathetically. "You need to grow up. A pinky promise when you were kids? You think that has any meaning in real life? This isn't some rom-com manga or anime. Things change. People change. In fact, I don't think you understand just how much Takashi has changed from the person you knew before the world fell apart."

Feeling as if she got her point across, she turned her back on her former love rival. "I love Takashi for who he is, faults and all, and I will not give up Takashi for anything, nor will I share him. You can try and take him from me if you want, but I won't let you. And I warn you, there will be consequences if you try."

Having said her piece, she made her way back to what she now found herself thinking as her and Takashi's room, even if their stay here was temporary. Whatever regrets and heartbreak Rei was facing right now, she would just need to deal with them herself, especially since she was the one at fault for her and Takahsi's failed relationship, having brought everything on herself. She'd taken Takashi for granted and cast him aside for her own petty and selfish reasons rather than work through their problems like a real couple should, not caring about him or his feelings. That was something Saeko would never do. She accepted and loved Takashi for who he was, willing to take all his flaws along with him, just as he had her that time he had accepted her darkness.

Despite this, she really did hope Rei would get over him. Regardless of their love rivalry, Saeko still considered Rei to be her friend and a valuable member of the group. Maybe she would meet another male survivor they could trust who could join their group, or maybe Kohta would give up on his feelings for Saya and make a go for Rei. If not, well, Saeko suspected that Shizuka swung both ways if Rei was willing to be open to that, though she didn't think she would be based on the way she had reacted on the island after the hallucinations had stopped.

Stepping back into the dark room, Saeko made her way over to the bed where Takashi still slept and sat down beside him. Reaching out, she took her hand in his, giving it a light squeeze. He muttered something in his sleep before falling silent again. Saeko smiled down at him as her other hand went to her stomach, wondering how long it would be before she started to show. She wondered what their child would look like. Would it be a boy, or a girl? Would it have her hair or eye color, or his, or perhaps a blend of the two? She found that she was eager to find out, and was suddenly impatient to hold their child in her arms.

If anyone had asked her a year ago if she had ever imagined to find herself where she was now, the answer would most definitely have been no. Then again, she doubted that anyone would have predicted to be involved in a zombie apocalypse when they envisioned their future. But _Them_ aside, Saeko certainly didn't think she'd be like this with Takashi, carrying his child in her womb, with a group of friends that were like family to her, including Rei, once she came around that is. It was very strange how things turned out. Fate had certainly thrown them all a curveball.

It wasn't going to be easy, she knew this, but she was ready for it, and for whatever hardships they would face down the line. And she and Takashi would make sure that their child would be ready for it too when the time came. They would have to be, for it was the only way they would survive.

But even with that grim outlook on the way life was now, Saeko couldn't help but to smile. The world may be full of death and tragedy, but there was still life and warmth in it, and Saeko had found hers. It was just strange that it had taken most of the world to die for it to happen. That had to be the very definition of irony.

Still smiling, she dropped the robe to the floor and slipped under the covers once more, snuggling against Takashi. She resisted the urge to chuckle as he rolled over and spooned against her, holding her close, one of his hands settling on her stomach. It seemed that even in his sleep, he was subconsciously being protective of their child.

Sighing, Saeko closed her eyes as she felt sleep begin to reclaim her. She didn't know what the future held, but for now, she was content and happy. It was strange to be happy with the world the way it was, but she couldn't help it. For all she knew, they could all die tomorrow, which just made moments like this all the more precious.

However, she intended to have many more moments like this in the future, and she knew that Takashi would do everything he could to see that she and their child would have a safe and happy future as well. No matter what happened from here on out, they would keep on living, together. It was a whole new world for them all, and it was just the beginning.

 **THE END**

 **(A/N: Saeko and Takashi may be my #1 favorite shipping. I wish we could have seen them officially get together in the series. And yes, they would have gotten together. Before he died, the series writer stated that he intended to have them end up together, and the series artist confirmed this as well. How that would have played out is unknown since the series was dropped after the writer's death. Would Takashi have chosen Saeko over Rei, or would Rei have ended up getting killed. From a writer's perspective, I'm thinking the latter, as it would have made for a character development arc for Takashi in dealing with her death. Either way, it's nice to know that he and Saeko will end up together, though I wish we could have seen how. This story is just one scenario. And for anyone who doubts whether or not they had sex that night at the shrine, while it's more ambiguous in the manga, it's pretty obvious in the anime. Fading to black after initiating a kiss is pretty standard to imply an offscreen sex scene. The biggest evidence, however, is the next morning when they're sneaking out of the shrine, Saeko can be seen finishing putting her skirt _on_ , something she had clearly been wearing the previous night, and in fact had just gotten dressed into a few minutes before the fade to black happened. And then there was the "take responsibility" comment the next morning that often comes after two characters have sex in anime, and the way they acted like shy teenagers who had just did it around each other after that. So, yeah, it was pretty obvious if you pay attention. And, well, it only takes one time, and that's where the idea for this story came from. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll be able to write a full-length story one day in the future. Guess we'll have to see. Let me know what you thought of this one though, and I'll see you next time.)**


End file.
